Sequential Aiming with Two Limbs and the One-Target Advantage

Movement times to the first target in a 2-target sequence are typically slower than in 1-target aiming tasks. The 1-target movement time advantage has been shown to emerge regardless of hand preference, the hand used, the amount of practice, and the availability of visual feedback. The authors tested central and peripheral explanations of the 1-target advantage, as postulated by the movement integration hypothesis, by asking participants to perform single-target movements, 2-target movements with 1 limb, and 2-target movements in which they switched limbs at the first target. Reaction time and movement time data showed a 1-target advantage that was similar for both 1- and 2-limb sequential aiming movements. This outcome demonstrates that the processes underlying the increase in movement time to the 1st target in 2-target sequences are not specific to the limb, suggesting that the 1-target advantage originates at a central rather than a peripheral level.     

Handedness and Hemispheric Asymmetry in the Control Of Movements

This study investigated the influence of hemispheric specialization of function on the motor performance of the hands. Right-handed (n=17), ambidextral (n=21), and ambisinistral (n=12) subjects performed Fitts' (1954) reciprocal tapping task under two conditions with each hand. Conditions had the same index of difficulty but differed in movement precision. The left hand of righthanders was superior in the condition requiring the greatest amount of preprogramming. Conversely, the right hand was not superior in the condition having the greatest demand for feedback control. For ambidextrals, left-hand superiority in the relatively preprogrammed condition was also revealed. Ambisinistrals showed no significant difference between conditions with either hand. The results partially support the hypothesis that the motor performance of the hands mirrors the dominant processing mode of their contralateral hemisphere. Failure to find supportive evidence in ambisinistrals is consistent with the contention that they lack hemispheric specialization of function.     

A Comparison of Obsessive–Compulsive Personality Disorder Scales

In this study, we utilized a large undergraduate sample (N = 536), oversampled for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text revision [DSM–IV–TR]; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) obsessive–compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) pathology, to compare 8 self-report measures of OCPD. No prior study has compared more than 3 measures, and the results indicate that the scales had only moderate convergent validity. We also went beyond the existing literature to compare these scales to 2 external reference points: their relationships with a well-established measure of the five-factor model of personality (FFM) and clinicians' ratings of their coverage of the DSM–IV–TR criterion set. When the FFM was used as a point of comparison, the results suggest important differences among the measures with respect to their divergent representation of conscientiousness, neuroticism, and agreeableness. Additionally, an analysis of the construct coverage indicated that the measures also varied in terms of their representation of particular diagnostic criteria. For example, whereas some scales contained items distributed across the diagnostic criteria, others were concentrated more heavily on particular features of the DSM–IV–TR disorder.     

A Quantitative Approach to Affective Symbolism In Rorschach Responses

I present the origin and history of the "Series B" and "Series C" pictures of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; White, Sanford, Murray, &; Bellak, 1941; Clark, 1944). I fill in the evolutionary gap between the "Series A" pictures (W. G. Morgan, 2002) and the 1943 "Series D" (W. G. Morgan, 1995, 1999). Here one can observe which cards were retained from series to series, what new cards were experimentally introduced, and which cards were resurrected after a period of disuse. It would seem that only the world shattering events of WWII were enough to halt this evolution and freeze the content of the TAT at the time of Murray's departure from the Harvard Psychological Clinic to join the Office of Strategic Services.     

Conflict,Functional Disruption,and Defense-Effectiveness

The concepts of conflict and defense are clarified, and a model of defense-effectiveness is reconstructed from psychoanalytic usage. Defenses are effective if underlying conflicts are kept from becoming overtly disruptive. Thematic and associative indices of drive-conflict are compared with questionnaire measures of drive-related functional disruption. Three drives are sampled: aggression, dependency, and achievement. Only the first two yield positive findings. Although the aim of the study, internal consistency, is achieved, an hypothesis for external validation is also proposed.     

Book Reviews

Dan Olweus. Prediction of Aggression (On the Basis of a Projective Test). Stockholm: Scandinavian Test Corporation, 1969. Reviewed by A. I. Rabin

F. D. Naylor. Personality and Educational Achievement. New York: Wiley, 1972, 162 pages, $6.95. Reviewed by Frank H. Farley

Hendrik M. Ruitenbeek (Ed.) The Analytic Situation: How Patient and Therapist Communicate. Chicago: Aldine, 1973, 222 pages, $8.50. Reviewed by Emanuel Berman     

Cross-Ethnic Measurement Equivalence of the RCMAS in Latino and White Youth With Anxiety Disorders

In normal vision, the various “gestalt-free” combinations which form early in a percept, are repressed by the emergence of the veridical composite perception; but in schizophrenic vision, with its inadequate repressive powers, the early combinations emerge as the completed composite. This completed composite, if at all veridical, is so only partially. Rorschach studies support the idea of a range of perceptual abortions among schizophrenics, varying directly with the process-reactive range.     

Psychometric Properties and Norms for the Personality Assessment Inventory in Egg Donors and Gestational Carriers

Although psychological evaluations are an integral element of screening for third-party reproduction and the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) is commonly used for these evaluations, little is known about the psychometric properties or normative scores on the PAI among egg donors and carriers. We evaluated the PAI among 1,044 egg donors and gestational carriers from various fertility clinics across the United States. PAI scales were generally internally consistent in this population, although range restriction appeared to attenuate reliability on several scales. The PAI profiles of egg donors and carriers had elevated positive impression management and suppressed clinical scale scores relative to the community standardization sample, as would be expected given the contingencies of this assessment context. Scores were similar across egg donors and carriers and were similar whether the carrier or donor was known or not known to the prospective parents. Sample-specific norms are provided for the use of the PAI in this setting.